A Midwest Kind of Love
by SACA BAF
Summary: Riding on his gleaming horse, Fang Connor rounds up all the cattle in the west, and all the hearts of the girls. When his horse breaks a leg, and there's only one house in sight, are they willing to shelter him as his horse heals? And who exactly owns it?
1. Prologue

_A Midwest Kind Of Love_

**Chapter 1- **Prologue

_[House in the middle of the Kansas plains, home to the Ride family]_

"Ladies and Gents, boys and girls of all ages, I present to y'all Kansas' number 'un cowboy, Fang Connor!" the television blared, as Fang Connor came into view on the dimly lit screen. Awe-struck girls were behind him, ogling at his black riding attire, as he winked towards the camera.

"Ridin' through the hills of Kansas, on his gleamin' horse, Midnight, Fang's the cowboy ya' call for, when ya' need 'un. He's got the horse, he's got the skills, he's got the looks — and he's got all the girls hearts on the plains." Here, Fang turned to face the girls, and tilted his hat down towards them, as one of the girls fainted.

"Need yer cattle all rounded up? Call Fang Connor: (***) ***-****!" The screen then switched to a picture of Fang riding on his black horse, Midnight, before it changed to a bunch of black lines, buzzing loudly.

A girl sitting in front of the television rolled her dark brown eyes, before flicking the television off. A younger girl looked up at her older sister from the girl's lap, "Maxie! That was him! He saved me!" she tried to convince her sister.

"Angel dear, Mr. Connor ain't savin' no one but those cows out there, you hear? S'time for bed now sweetie, 'kay?" Max told Angel, as she gently picked her up to carry her to her bed. Angel nodded solemnly in response, allowing Max to pick her up, and carry her there.

The buzzing of the T.V. came back. Popping her thumb out of her mouth, Angel pouted up at her sister. "Why do Gazzy, and Ella getta stay up and watch s'more of the tele- telly?" she whined, having trouble on pronouncing television. Max turned, and sighed. Sure enough, the old T.V. set had come back to life, and her sibling's eyes were glued to it.

"'Cause, Ange, they're older than you, okay? S'time for bed now," Max replied, trying to sound irritated at her innocent sister.

"But Gazzy's only two years older!" Angel retorted, crossing her tiny arms over her chest.

Max smiled at Angel's defiance. "Angel darlin', that's two years more than you." Angel frowned in defeat. "Now say g'night to your sibling's."

"G'night!" Angel called to the kids watching the screen, as Max led her away down the hall.

Peeling their eyes from the screen, they called back some "Night!"s in reply, and Max tucked Angel in her bed. "You warm, honey?" Angel nodded sleepily, her eyes drifting shut. Leaning forward, she kissed her forehead.

As Max turned to exit, Angel whispered, "Night Max."

Looking warmly back at the sleeping child, Max replied, "Night, kiddo," and walked out of the room, quietly shutting the door. Now, it was time to talk to her siblings. It wasn't hard to guess that they'd still be watching the television when Max reappeared, for it wasn't common for them to watch the T.V. at all.

Rarely, they got signal from where they were located, and whenever they did, most of the little time there was to watch, they were advertisements of Fang Connor. America's "Number One Cowboy."

"Max!" Ella, her sixteen-year-old sister called. "Come watch the television! Ooh, it's such a treat. Can we call Nudge over? She'd love to watch some Fang — I mean T.V.!"

Max hushed Ella. "Shh! Angel's finally sleepin'. No thanks, and of course. Just make sure she ain't gonna go into overdrive or anythin'," she replied.

Ella scoffed. "Me? Ain't she _your_ best friend? Not mine?"

"You're the one that asked to invite her over, so she's your duty; not mine," Max grinned, arms held up in surrender.

"But she's _your_ friend!" Ella weakly added. Max raised her eyebrows at her sister. "Fine!" Ella huffed. "I'll be makin' sure she ain't gonna wake Ange up, while_ you_ make sure Gaz doesn't pull a bomb!" she said smugly.

Max tilted her head back in disgust. "You hear, Gazzy? No bombs — concocted ones, _or_ natural!"

Gazzy shrugged, giving his consent. All he wanted to do was watch the television, after a long day. "We didn't have anymore beans, so s'not a problem," he replied.

"That reminds me, I need to stop by the market sometime soon…" Max thought out loud. "Or, Mama can do it when she returns from town." Their mother, Valencia, was the person in charge of caring for the animals. There was only one, so she was in high demand, and rarely ever home.

Ella had left to run and get Nudge, who lived in the closest house to them, still half a mile away. The girls didn't mind; it kept them in shape either way.

When the Ella returned, Nudge behind her, they both were breathing heavily. "Is it still there?" she asked, panting, her voice hoarse, the 'there' referring to the channel. Max glanced at the T.V., only to find Gazzy sitting right in front of it.

"Yes, Ella, and Gazzy — sit your behind back on the ground! I swear, you'll hurt your eyes someday!" she snapped. "Oh, hey Nudge," Max said to the mocha-skinned girl.

"Howdy, Max," Nudge replied with a wink. "Gonna go get me enough Fang Connor to last a month!" she added. "Sweet dumplings, is he _hawt!_" Nudge hooted.

Max snorted in response. "_Him_? _Hawt_?" she mocked.

Nudge looked up at Max from her place on the ground. "Honey, Fang Connor is _the_ hottest, and the most amazing cowboy to walk these plains since the beginnin' of time, understand?"

"Darlin', John Wayne is the best, and he always will be. True, this egotistical idiot is more attractive, but Wayne kicks arse, _you_ understand?" Max smirked. Nudge rolled her caramel colored eyes, before averting them to the T.V.

"Whatever Max," she sighed. "At least ya' admitted Fang Connor is Hawt, with a capital _Ha-_!" Nudge said, trying to retaliate to Max's comment as best as she could.

"Nudge," Ella said, "Isn't it a capital _H_?" she pointed out. Again, she rolled her eyes.

"What_ever_ M – I'mean Ella! Lord, y'all two are so similar, even if Max is only two years older! And I thought y'all were my friends!" Nudge said, feigning sadness, as she wiped a non-existent tear from her eye.

Max grinned. "When did you ever think _that_?" she teased. Nudge gasped.

"You insolent imbecile!" she glared menacingly at Max. It didn't hold up very long, because another commercial of Fang Connor appeared on the television (in which Gazzy was still enchanted by). "Eek! It's him!" Nudge squealed ebulliently.

And then the television cut off, causing Nudge to growl at the black screen. "Stupid T.V.," she grumbled.

Smiling brightly, (since Nudge was angry due to the fact she could no longer stare at Fang's "hawtness",) Max picked herself off the ground. "Well… time for bed! Don't wanna enlarge Fang's ego anymore, do we?"

"No Max, his head'll explode by the size of it," the kids grumbled the standard response to Max, which was mandatory every time they watched the television.

She laughed. "Good ta'know. If only we could mark that in his head…" Max trailed off.

_[Blackout]_

**Authors' Note: **If only she knew…

**Fluffy: **So, how'd you like it? I struggled on the western talk, kind of. How'd I do? This is only the beginning… :) Check out our story: Behind the Curtains, please!

**Bubbles: **Yay! Another story from SACA BAF! Be excited peoples! We bring AWESOMENESS to the world!

**Anna: **Hehe. We da bomb. You just gotta acceptt that, peoples. ;)

=) **SACA BAF **(=


	2. Savin' Angel

_A Midwest Kind Of Love_

**Chapter 2- **Savin' Angel

_[The Connor Ranch]_

Fang woke up, at about five in the early morning, and ran off to the stables. He needed to get a practice ride in on his horse, Midnight, before he was trampled by the heavy crowds of girls. Good Lord, if he we to die, he'd at least want one more ride on his prideful horse.

"Fangles!" he heard his best friend, Iggy, call out as he was running towards him. "Where the hell ya' at, boy?" he cried out, pale eyebrows furrowed.

"Comin' Iggy, no need to freak," was his reply.

Iggy, of course, was already up. He was always awake before Fang was, considering he'd always make breakfast for everybody, including the Connor family. Fang and Iggy were best buds, although Fang — which Iggy hates to admit — was always the one more popular around the lady-folks.

The Connor family as well as Iggy's family were really close. They'd lived next door to each other for a very, very long time, which caused bondage between the great Fang Connor and (partially great) Iggy Williams.

Fang ran over to Iggy, who was standing by Midnight, his horse.

"What're ya' doin' by _my_ horse, Igs?" Fang asked him, his dark eyebrows raised.

"Just waitin' for ya'," he replied, whistling awkwardly. Iggy was either a funny-awkward, or a funny-cheerful lad, which was quite the opposite of Fang, the dark and silent brooding one.

Fang rolled his eyes. Iggy and his days... "And?" Fang prompted, stepping closer to Iggy, who was inching closer to Midnight with every step.

"You wanna tell me _now_ what happened a month ago, when those kids came by?" he asked mischievously, now completely behind Midnight, where his strawberry-blonde hair stuck out in tufts behind Midnight's black torso. "How you got so famous 'round here?"

"What're ya talkin' 'bout?" Fang thought back to a couple of days ago, vaguely remembering what had happened.

_[Flashback]_

"_The kids from the school nearby are comin' to visit the ranch today," Fang's mom, Alice, announced during breakfast. Fang simply acknowledged her with a tiny nod, barely visible to Alice. He finished his breakfast and walked over to Iggy's, which wasn't far from his house at all._

"_What'cha doin' here?" Iggy asked him when he entered the Williams' house. Their house had a similar layout to Fang's, which connected to the ranch in the back._

"_What, I'm not allowed ta' be here anymore, Igs?" he replied with a smirk on his face._

"_Just wonderin,'" Iggy said, shrugging._

"_Uh- huh. You ready to go ridin'?" Fang asked him._

"_Yeah, gimme' a sec," he muttered melodramatically in response, strolling to his room to retrieve his boots._

_Meanwhile, Anna, Iggy's mother tried to make some good old conversation with Fang. "Hey, Fang!" Anna said, greeting him._

"_Hey Mrs. Williams," Fang simply replied curtly._

"_Fang, Iggy can't ride with ya', today; he's a bit… What do y'all kids call it? Grounded? I'm sorry," she apologized sincerely, shooting a pointed look at Iggy who had returned in the room._

"_It's alright," Fang muttered, ready to head out the door when Iggy sighed dramatically._

"_But Ma!" he whined. She gave him a stern look, and he shut up._

_Stepping out of the old town house, onto the dirt driveway, Fang turned around. "See ya' later, Igs. Bye Mrs. Williams!" _

"_See ya' later!" Iggy called out to him. Fang heard a smack, followed by Iggy's pained "Ow", and mumbles from Anna._

"_Bye, Fang," Anna said warmly, allowing Fang to finally go and ride._

_Fang closed their front door behind him and jogged off to the stables near his house. He un-hatched the lock to the barn doors to get Midnight and ride for a bit, while it was still nice out. Fang lead a trotting Midnight out of the barn, walking casually._

"_Kids — this is the stables," Fang heard his mom inform the kids._

"_Hey! Lookie there! It's Fang Connor!" he heard a little kid from the group gasp, and then the whole group erupted into a bunch of greetings as they started asking all sorts of questions, even about his love life. Little kids asking him about love? It was honestly too much for him to handle. _

_He quickly waved at them and brought out Midnight, just to draw the attention away from him._

_The kids gasped in awe, and admired the horse for a while until Fang announced that he was going on a ride._

"_Where's Angel?" Fang heard a kid say. The boy's voice rose out of the crowd, and even Fang paused. Just then, the whole group looked around frantically._

_Alice shot a frantic look at Fang, who just shrugged and took off for his ride; she was probably hiding somewhere around the yard. Not in danger or anything._

_About ten yards away, he noticed a little girl, swinging a bear around and laughing, about to be flattened to death from a herd of cattle. The dust from the pounding of their hooves on the ground clouded the air._

_He rode off closer to her, and then the kid who had first noticed that the Angel girl was even gone, tried to run off and save her._

_Fang caught up to the little boy, grabbed a hold on the back of his shirt and said, "Woah there, mister. That cattle can kill ya'. What do you think you're doin,'?" Fang asked him incredulously._

"_That's my sister," he said frantically, blue eyes wide with fright._

_Luckily for Fang, the little boy was light enough for him to lift up to where he was, which was on top of Midnight. He picked up the boy and sat him behind himself. Fang didn't necessarily care if the boy was comfortable of not, considering there was a little girl about to die from a herd of cattle._

_Fang rode faster, as the cattle was nearing the little girl at a very fast pace._

_Just in time, Fang reached down, and picked the little girl up by under her arms. The herd of cattle continued on, as if the little girl wasn't _hairs_ from being deceased._

"_Gee, golly, Gazzy! It's Fang Connor!" the little girl said excitedly to the boy sitting behind Fang, grinning, showing her teeth._

"_What in the world were ya' thinkin'?" Fang asked the little girl outrageously, still holding her._

_He put sat her on the horse in front of him and he turned Midnight around, before headed back for the stables, where everyone was watching in utter admiration and awe. _

"_Sorry mister," she said innocently, as if she wasn't about to be trampled. She gave him a wide smile._

"_Sorry mister," the boy behind Fang repeated, the worry still apparent on his tan face._

_Fang sighed at the kids. After all, he used to me one of them. "S'fine," he grumbled. _

_Midnight halted to a stop, and Fang got down first. He helped the kids off the horse and gently set them down on the ground._

"_Thanks!" the girl said happily, grinning toothily at him. She hugged his legs, holding onto them tightly._

"_Sure, anytime," he said, awkwardly patting the girl's back, as she smiled cutely up at him._

"_Thanks mister!" the boy said as well, although he did grab onto his legs._

"_Sure," Fang repeated, ruffling the boy's hair._

_Everyone was still staring at Fang, until Alice broke the silence. "Alright kids, let's move on," she told the group as they proceeded further around the ranch._

"_See ya' guys," Fang muttered, and headed into his own home to relax for a bit._

_[End Flashback]_

"Oh, that," Fang muttered, looking away from Iggy and averting his attention to Midnight, who needed

a bit of grooming. He could see dust particles and hay stuck to its black hide.

"Yes, _that_," Iggy mocked.

Fang rolled his eyes. "Ya' missed a whole bunch, Igs," he said sarcastically. "The kids from the school nearby decided to drop by. One of them lil' girls got separated from her group or somethin' and she was 'bout to be stampeded. Her brother, I think, tried to go and save her — somethin' along those lines— so I had to go and pick 'em both up and bring 'em back to their group."

Iggy looked thoughtful for a second. "Uh-huh. Little girl?" he asked. "Brother?"

"Yeah. The girl was probably about, uh, six or somethin.' Had curly blonde hair, blue eyes. Pale skin, that's a giver. She kinda' looked, um, angelic or somethin'?" Fang filled in. "The brother was probably 'bout eight, roughly sayin'. I dunno, the girl called 'im Gazzy or somethin'? I dunno."

"Huh," was all Iggy had to say, and Fang knew gears were turning in his head.

"Whatcha' thinkin' 'bout?" Fang asked him.

"I think I know those kids ya' saved," Iggy pondered, saying his words slowly as if he wasn't sure of it.

This time Fang was the one who said, "Huh."

"Cousins," Iggy muttered, thinking deeply.

"They're your cousins?" Fang asked him.

"I think so," he mumbled, and then ran back to his old town house, leaving Fang completely confused.

Fang shrugged, finishing up on Midnight's grooming, as he thought about those two kids.

_[Blackout]_

**Authors' Note: **That's Fang's story, pretty much.

**Anna: **…Should I be offended that Bubbles gave Iggy's MOM my name? Review and reply to this question! Oh, and somebody asked us how we did it on a review from Behind The Curtains…And my answer is…we email each other. Hehe.

**Fluffy: **Yippee! I'm using that word a lot… Anyway, how'd you like it? Awkward ending… Oh well! I liked the chapter :) Sorry it hasn't been updated in a while; it was solely Anna and Hank's fault :D

**Bubbles:** Yay! Another chapter! WOOOO!

**=) SACA BAF (=**


	3. The Clock Strikes Midnight

_A Midwest Kind Of Love_

**Chapter 3- **The Clock Strikes Midnight

* * *

_[Ride Family House; Nudge is over once again]_

"Now Ella, darlin'," Max said smugly, "That's absolute BS!" Ella stared Max down with her dark brown eyes, before sighing.

She rolled her eyes, picking up the large pile of cards in the center. "Ya' suck, ya know that, Max?" Max seemed to ignore her comment, as she examined the cards in her hand.

"Ella, hun, that's my _job_ as your old'r sister. 'Sides, you were bleedin' all _over_ the place," Max retorted, after selecting three cards in her hand. "Three jacks."

Ella glanced at her deck, before her eyes connected with Nudge's, who was sitting across her. "BS Max!" she cried, trying to get the measly amount of revenge on Max that she could, although it was only three cards.

Max smirked at her sister. "Ella, Ella, Ella. When'll you ever learn?" she teased, extracting her hand towards the center of the wooden table. "I got me some of 'em right here," Max said smirking, as she flipped the three cards over.

"Jus' shuddup, Max," Ella grumbled, collecting them as Max smiled triumphantly. Both sisters turned to look at Nudge expectantly.

Blinking for a second, she refocused on the card game. "Huh?" Nudge burst, shaking her head wildly, and her light colored tendrils danced in the air. "Oh wait! Sorry!" She quickly looked down at her hands. "Uh… Four queens," she mumbled, placing it down.

Both Max and Ella raised their eyebrows at the mocha-skinned girl before them. Something was up — she was _never_ this quiet. "What's wrong?" Max asked worriedly, as Ella continued the game, not completely concentrated.

"One king," As soon as Ella said those two words, Nudge's face brightened. Both Max and Ella looked at her in befuddlement, with a hint of amusement.

"Are you okay, Nudge? Yer kinda scarin' me..." Ella teased.

She nodded wildly, "Yup! I'm just fine... Seein' I jus' fooled all y'all! One of you ought to have a queen somewhere in your deck!"

Max and Ella glanced down at their hands. Sure enough, each sister had two queens of their own.

"Wait, so you're sayin' all those cards weren't queens? Not even _one_ of 'em?" Max asked incredulously. "You _can't_ be seriously, darlin'."

Nudge wiggled her eyebrows. "Wanna bet?" she challenged, trying to hold her giggles in. Ella quickly shook her head no. "And guess what else?"

Both girls looked over at the other, their eyes questioning what else Nudge could have in store. "What?" Max finally asked.

"I win," she smiled, getting up out of her chair, stretching. "Gonna go get some fresh air. Have fun... _Losers_!" Nudge yawned deviously. She walked out of the house, with two pairs of eyes glaring at her back.

_[Large Ranch in town. Fang is talking to the rancher, out by the barnyard, Midnight beside him]_

"So all the cattle out in'e west?" Fang confirmed, as he leant against the old picket fence.

"As much as ya' can find," the rancher agreed, nodding his head. He glanced up at Fang's horse, Midnight. "That's a mighty fine horse you got there, young man. Take good care of 'er."

Fang put his hand on Midnight's sleek, well-kept black mane of hair. "Yes'sir. She's a keeper," he winked, causing the man adjacent him to chortle.

"Ah, we'll see. First ya' gotta find yerself a woman," the rancher teased.

Adjusting his hat, Fang shook his head. "The only women I got in my life is my Mama, and Midnight right here," he smirked.

The rancher smiled. "Well why keep all 'em girls waitin' for yer hand, if they all ain't gonna get it?"

Fang sighed. "You got that right," he concurred. "Someday I'll find 'er. The right one, that is. Not like 'em girls you were talking about." He saddled up on Midnight's back, and tilted his hat down at the rancher. "I'll get yer cattle."

"Get a girlie, while you're at it!" he joked. Fang scowled down at him, as Midnight began trotting around. The rancher raised his arms in surrender. "Geez, sonny," he muttered. "Yer as bad as my wife!"

"I HEARD THAT!" a female voice from inside called. "YOU LITTLE –"

"Sorry about 'er..." the rancher apologized shakily. Fang nodded, fighting a smirk, "Well, good luck, and good fortunes. Not that you need it, ever since ya' became famous and all that stuff."

"See ya'!" Fang called.

The rancher ran after Midnight for a second, and Fang stopped. He fidgeted with his straw hat, eyes forwards, focused on Midnight's hide. "Yes?" Fang asked.

Hesitantly, the rancher wondered, "Can I ask what made ya' so famous around the west?"

Fang paused for a moment, before carefully answering his question. "I saved a life 'r two," And then he turned around, and rode off, dust clouds forming in every spot Midnight stepped on.

He stopped by his home, to pack some before he left. Water, food, another hat, some rope – all the essentials needed for work. Fang quickly wrote a note to his mother, and then left, riding out into the west.

With each grand gallop Midnight took, it brought Fang farther and farther away from town. And he would go even farther, if it meant finding the cattle.

Around ten o'clock, – about three hours since Fang left town – when the sun had finished setting, Fang led Midnight to a complete halt. "Whoa, girl," he said gently. He wiped the sweat that had formed at his brow with his shirt-sleeve, and looked at the ground, smirking at what he found.

They were cattle footprints. They seemed almost fresh, meaning the lazy cattle weren't grazing far from where they were. Fang quickly slid off Midnight, and holding onto the harness, he inspected the ground.

They were close. Extremely close.

He saddled Midnight once more, and had her softly trot around, as he tried to peer through the darkness for some kind of life besides himself, and Midnight.

An hour and a half must've passed by without Fang noticing. Yet he still hadn't found the herd of cattle, and even more, _one,_ single cattle. There weren't any in sight.

Fang sighed, and hit Midnight gently on the side of her torso with his boot, to get her moving faster again. They rode on in the dark, the ground barely lit by the moon's glow.

If there had been light, Fang would've seen the ditch. But there wasn't light, so he didn't see it, and Midnight stumbled right into it, flinging Fang off her back. She collapsed to the ground, Fang not far from her.

He crawled over to his horse, and examined her as best as he could, trying to make sure Midnight wasn't hurt.

With his fingers, he found something wet. Something wet, with a faint smell of metal. Fang held his damp fingers to the moon, illuminating them. His heart stopped.

It was red.

It was blood.

And it wasn't his.

* * *

_[Blackout]_

**Authors' Note: **NOW we're getting somewhere!

**Fluffy: **OOH! SUSPENSE! R&R please?

**Anna: **I LOVE FANG! *Awkward silence.* …I meant as a cowboy, silly people. *Eye roll.*

**Bubbles: **Psh, I LOVE FANG WHETHER HE'S A COWBOY OR NOT, Anna! Review please!

=) **SACA BAF **(=


	4. The Little House on the Prairie

_A Midwest Kind of Love_

**Chapter 4- **The Little House on the Prairie

* * *

_[Wind is howling. Fang is wandering, looking for a house. Suddenly, he sees a small one in the distance and stumbles up to it.]_

Fang's heart beat fast as he ran to the house. It had to be around midnight by then, and he was panting. Midnight had to be cared for soon – she couldn't lie where he'd left her forever, especially with that leg. No, he needed help _then._

Stumbling and tripping up the porch steps, he blinked back his tiredness as black spots appeared in his vision. _Have…t' get…help… _he thought hazily, squinting at the door as he rapped on it noisily. There was some shuffling inside and then a pissed off looking teenage girl around Fang's age opened the door.

"D'you know wha' _time_ it is?" she demanded, hands on her hips, as she blinked rapidly, trying to get moisture in her eyes again. Her voice was slurred from tiredness.

Fang blinked in surprise, before shaking it off and cutting to the chase. "My horse, she got into an accident. Her leg is broken, and she needs help _now_," he said, and the girl's brown eyes, still glazed with anger and sleep, seemed to sharpen a bit, worry igniting slightly.

Turning around, the girl hollered back into the house, "Mama! Come quick! There's a horse stranded with a broken leg!" Suddenly, a woman in her early forties appeared behind the girl, looking tired and worried. "This is its master," the girl explained wearily. "He says he and his horse needs help now."

Fang nodded and the woman sharpened a bit, nodding and sending the girl for a bag. "Son, you go inside and lie down. There's no time or transport this late at night. You can stay in the guest room while I go and fetch your horse," Fang nodded, blinking, as the girl appeared beside the woman with a black bag.

The woman opened the screen door, gesturing for him to come in. The girl sent a sharp look her mama's way, and the woman shot her a stern look in return, stepping outside. "Show this boy to the guest room, Max." The girl nodded stiffly, still looking tired, pissed, and annoyed as she watched her mama walk down the porch steps. Then, she turned to Fang.

"Follow me," she instructed, shutting the doors and locking them before weaving through the house. After a minute or two, the girl stopped in front of a white door. "Here's your room," she said, opening the door and just about shoving him inside. "Don't come out or bother me until at leas' ten AM."

And then, she slammed the door shut, leaving him standing there, stunned.

_What just happened…? _He wondered, staring at the door and running a hand through his dark hair. Then, it hit him again. _Midnight__ is stranded in the middle of the desert, in pain, bloody, broken, and alone. _

His usually calm heart clenched a little, and he looked out the window, remembering when he first got Midnight, on his tenth birthday.

_[Flashback]_

_Ten-year-old Fang smirked a little, blowing out the candles on his cake. Iggy was doing a little dance in his chair, anxious to get a bite, and so he had taken an extra long time in blowing them out. His strawberry- blonde friend hard nearly fallen out of his chair, twice._

_After the partygoers had all had their cake slices, Fang's father cleared his throat, standing in front of the stables with his wife by his side. They both had excited smiles on their faces. All of the attendants turned to them, curious, and Fang and Iggy stopped in their attack at the saddle-shaped piñata, curious._

_"Fang, we have a present for you," Anne called, smiling brightly. Fang and Iggy shared a look, before walking over to Fang's parents slowly. Grinning, Fang's father pushed open the door to the stables, and there stood a sleek black horse, whinnying and shaking its head around, its' beautiful black mane cutting through the air._

_If Fang showed emotion, he would've been gaping, or possibly jumping up and down in joy, like Iggy. "For me?" is all Fang asked, his eyebrows raised high. His mama laughed, rolling her eyes and nodding. Silently, Fang walked forward, hand outstretched._

_The horse sniffed his hand, the huge, wet nostrils tickling his palm. Then, the two stared at each other, until the horse' eyes lit up in a strange sort of emotion, and it nudged his hand, trotting closer, its hooves clacking on the ground._

_Fang smiled a little, stroking the creature's snout with care and gentleness that made his mother's eyebrows shoot up. Then, he whispered, so only the horse could hear, "Midnight. Your name is Midnight."_

_The horse whinnied, nodding, and Fang smiled some more, taking it as approval._

_[Flashback Ends]_

Shaking his head to clear away his thoughts, he tried to think of a distraction as he looked around the room. For some reason, his eyes wandered to the door, and the girl's face flashed in his mind, angry and tired.

He smirked a little, shaking his head bemusedly. Then, he crossed over to the bed and sat on it, tugging off his boots and socks. _Show this boy to the guest room, Max._

_Max._

_Her name is Max._

His smirk deepened as he tugged off his shirt, as well, thinking about her expression as she opened the door. _"D'you know what _time_ it is?"_ her voice echoed in his head as he remembered the angry flash in her eyes as she put her hands on her hips and glared.

She was different from the other girls around, the ones that obsessed over him and adored him for saving that little girl and her brother. She didn't even seem to recognize him. _I doubt she would've acted differently if she had. _He thought, pulling off his pants and climbing underneath the blankets.

He was asleep the minute his head hit the pillow, Midnight's blood on his hand the last thing he pictured before he dozed off into a deep sleep.

_[Guest room, the next morning, Gazzy and Angel are leaning over Fang as he sleeps. Max is leaning in the doorway.]_

Fang was only half-awake when he heard it.

"Max!" a familiar little girl's voice called. "It's him! It's the boy that saved me!" A boy's voice agreed, and Fang blinked, groaning and sitting up. Then it all hit him, and his eyes shot over to Max, as he opened his mouth to ask about Midnight, when her eyes widened.

_"Fang?" _she asked her mouth hanging open. The little blonde girl and boy nodded, and he recognized them as the ones he had saved.

"Hey, aren't you the little girl I saved from the cows?" he asked blearily, and she nodded. Max stared at him, seemingly at a loss for words. She opened her mouth, and then closed it again, and then opened it, and closed it again.

And then she seemed to snap out of it and said, "Uh, breakfast is in half an hour." She smirked, pointing to his bare chest. "I'd get dressed if I were you, cause Mama's gonna drag you out to the stables to see your horse the minute you finish eatin'."

And with that, she and the children were gone, and the door was once again shut.

Staring at it for a minute, he just sat there. Then, he shook his head in amusement, standing up.

_Max, huh?_

_[Blackout]_

* * *

**Anna: **YO, YO, YO. :P I'M SO HYPED BUT SO BORED. BUT I WROTE A SOOONG. :D YAYAYAYAYAY. IT'S A DUET. ONE OF MAH FIRST. *Happy dance.* I hope you liked!

**Fluffy: **I KNOW! ME TOO! With the hyperness and the song and the boredness :) It's one of the song's I've actually liked that I've written :D *Teehiggle* Anna thought this chapter sucked, but it DIDN'T, _right?_

**Bubbles:** You know what? I'm just EXHAUSTED. Maybe I'll do a happy dance later for you guys. Other than that, I hope you liked, because I LOVED! Meaning that it didn't suck. Not to me at least.

**=) SACA BAF (=**


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